Despite all the negative rumors on PC sales it seems that the PC gaming market is doing well, as according to the latest reports there was 21.5 billion in hardware sales last year. That's more than double the revenues derived from console sales.

Hardware like, I'd say yes. Or does this statement also include software (game) sales?

I've just been helping add to that. Quite like my new Roccat Tyon & XL 300mmx600mm Razer mouse mat 🙂 Oh, and a big bunch of watercooling bits and pieces to go in my Phanteks Enthoo Primo! Glad to hear I am not the only one with nice new toys 😀 Now about the end to those ****ty console ports I am hearing about....? ...perhaps soon things will go the way they Should have and weak arse consoles will be getting ****ty PC ports - you know, with cut down GFx, 30fps caps, massively reduced control interface with buttons you cannot re-program etc etc etc

Consoles are for kids. PC Master Race FTW! 🤓

Now about the end to those ****ty console ports I am hearing about....? ...perhaps soon things will go the way they Should have and weak arse consoles will be getting ****ty PC ports - you know, with cut down GFx, 30fps caps, massively reduced control interface with buttons you cannot re-program etc etc etc

That's why I'm asking about the software sales and if they are included with the numbers, since we all know that the money in the console business is not made with the console hardware (maybe additional controllers), but with the games. If there's way more games sold on consoles than on PC, we won't be seeing any change in lead platforms soon. And to be honest, I think we won't see any PC lead games except PC exclusive titles again.

That's why I'm asking about the software sales and if they are included with the numbers, since we all know that the money in the console business is not made with the console hardware (maybe additional controllers), but with the games. If there's way more games sold on consoles than on PC, we won't be seeing any change in lead platforms soon. And to be honest, I think we won't see any PC lead games except PC exclusive titles again.

This is true in many ways, the games subsidise the cost of console hardware, so from the outset those figures could be very skewed. But regardless of that, Steam etc are making the PC a Far more tempting marketplace for game publishers... (they seem like the DRM feel it gives them too - even though games get cracked all the time despite this) Charging full price for new games, with no store front costs and no physical boxes & content + associated storage and shipping etc etc Kinda a con for the consumer ofc yet perhaps by tempting the publishers with high profit margins it will help deliver better and more content then it's not so bad.

I'd need a decent PC in any case, gaming or not. In such a situation it doesn't hurt PC games are significantly cheaper than console games, due to no hardware cost compensation.

PC games used to be cheaper, unfortunately that's not the case anymore. Thankfully there are loopholes for us to buy cheaper games. This isn't a surprise to see PC hardware higher, all people do nowadays is complain about the high prices.

I'm a little releaved about the price i paid for my 2x980ti 😀

Hardware like, I'd say yes. Or does this statement also include software (game) sales?

I don't think it matters as far as what this post is saying. With 21.5B in PC hardware sales, there's clearly a market for making content for PCs. PC gaming isn't a dead/dying platform as has been the myth since consoles took over mainstream gaming. Consoles and mobile clearly have the lion's share of game sales and development, but the PC just won't go away. The PC is always going to be appealing to a certain subset of gamers/tinkerers. It will always be the platform that has potential for (by leaps and bounds) the ultimate gaming experience for any of the cross platform titles. ...unless cloud gaming takes over where we don't need hardware. How utterly boring that would be...

i game on pc and a ps4 the pc you have better graphics and 60 fps the pc sure has the power advantage over console but the game developers are problem with pc , you get many drm clients like steam, orgin,uplay, rockstar social club, gog galaxy which is a hassle and annoying to have all these accounts to play on pc, also there trying make pc digital only which is ok if you have super fast internet to download 50gb+ games,which i dont and im sure millons in the world dont, 50gb take me a week to download so if i cant buy a retail pc disc copy with 90% of game on disc then i have to buy it on ps4 thats wre ps4 is better and beats a pc you can buy a blueray disc and be playing in under 5 mins and online works much better on console even with slow internet you can play online with others no problems

i think pc gaming industry is gonna lose customers by going digital only when the worlds internet speeds are so different and with games getting so big in size , i prefer my pc to game on but if we get no retail games on pc i cant use my pc , im from united kingdom they say its gonna be 2021 before everyone in the country has access to fibre broadband so thats another 6 years away i want fibre broadband now but they have not lay down the fibre cables in my area so cant get it , what they should do is make pc games avaliable on blueray discs or usb sticks

This is expected as PC gaming hardwares has so many other uses aside from gaming.

To the untrained eye the perception is often that the PC gaming is not a strong contender in game sales. This is often due to the fact that Steam refuse to disclose sale numbers, adding the market-share Steam has in PC game sales and the fact that their sales numbers are unknown - It's skewing all sales data but the publishers own numbers. Lets look at what the publishers say instead as they have all facts at hand where many "experts" only look in retail, an old style retail that most PC gamers have evolved away from. The reality is all of a sudden quite different, UBI soft last quarter: The PC accounted for 23 percent of Ubisoft's sales this quarter, an amount only (and only slightly) surpassed by the PlayStation 4, which totaled 27 percent of sales. Xbox One sales made up just 11 percent of Ubisoft's sales for the quarter. So UBI sold a big share of their games to the PC platform even when they had some crappy ports and still use the same excessive DRM that makes many PC gamers avoid them like the plague. That tells quite an revealing story what happens as soon as Steam numbers are included...

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PC games used to be cheaper, unfortunately that's not the case anymore. Thankfully there are loopholes for us to buy cheaper games.

Some games make exceptions, but generally speaking over here One and PS4 games go for 10-20 euros more than PC versions. And that's when you don't get your PC game oft significantly cheaper digitally from some special sale or whatnot. Not to mention the other options, like buying something when it's in Alpha. Although I don't normally do that in fear of wasting money, but some sure bets allow it, such as Arma3.

PC has been digital pretty much for the last 5 years and it's grown in that time, just go visit a game shop and you'll see they only sell old games and prepaid cards. The local GAME shop have even started selling peripherals (Which I purchased a Razer Blackwidow Chroma from) I spoke to the staff about it and they said accessories and pre paid cards are what they sell the most in regards to PC. While I agree with what your saying, I am all for moving to digital. I work in IT and what frustrates me is we are being held back by infrastructure. As well as peoples inability to move on from physical media and/or old hardware. Most PC games you can preload before release, even on a 20mb line the avg 30gb game can be downloaded in the day. You say the you put a blu ray in your PS4 and after 5 mins you play. When the reality of that is 20-30 mins installation + day 1 patches etc. This in my opinion defeats the object of disks, what would be nice is if publishers gave the option of digital or buying it physically on a USB stick, heck you can buy 64gb usb sticks for around £10 so cost shouldn't change that much. I don't know what it's like in your area, but in Yorkshire in the remote parts are now moving onto satellite broadband to get 40mb speeds. Google LN communications. I'm fortunate and have fibre in my area. The advent of a digital world should put pressure on BT to sort their crap out hopefully.

ps4 u can play the game while it install its only 2-5 mins then u can play and you always have to have the blueray disc in to play , but we had mgs5 phantom pain and mad max both them games was download only on pc, but consoles they sell both the same two games on blueray so they must be selling a lot of retail games on consoles and that means the world is not ready for digital games yet , pc is a lot smaller market , i dont see consoles going digital until the internet gets good speeds for everyone

Completely wrong. PC Gaming is dying. 🤓

Here is how I personally summarize why PC gaming is not dying anytime soon. What will replace PC gaming when it's gone? What will fill the void? People are becoming more tech savvy, not less. Where will people go when they want the best of the best? Modding? A 'do anything with it' machine? Until there is a replacement for these things, there will always be room to make money on the PC as a gaming platform. More and more people understand what FPS is, what resolution is, ect. It had its start as a hobbyist thing anyway, there is no reason that would die. I'll put forth a paraphrased quote from Double Fine's Ron Gilbert in regards to point-n-click adventures. "It's not that these games are dead or not profitable, it's just that other genres have grown exponentially." The consoles permitted video games to reach the many many simple people. But there will always be whose who want more, and that group of people is growing not shrinking. This claim reminds of of the "whole smart phones will replace consoles" thing. Consoles lovers proved that wont be the case. The same logic largely applies. There are things the console can do that the phone can't, like insert a disk, a USB, a house media hub. Were always going to want a strong device connected to our TV 24/7 for games, why would that ever be a device that belongs in your pocket? There is no reason smart phones, consoles, and PC can't all exists. They are specialized machines that if they could do what the other two do, they wouldn't be that thing anymore. If consoles could do all of what a PC can do it would be too complicated to keep console gamers happy. If a push is made to put everything gaming on the phone (like Konami thinks is what's smart), show me the $60 sweeping epic storyline video games on mobile. Think about it, would you want to play Fallout 4 on your phone? No, of course not, Fallout Shelter, yes.

Consoles are for kids. PC Master Race FTW! 🤓

saying this and then cry hard when console got better graphic or there no pc release, lol dont get me wrong, i dont mean anything always want to comment when someone saying this i myself not console guy, i do have ps3 but thats it, i didnt have xbone neither ps4, or other else but i always curious why some people so close-minded i respect their own thought, but what i didnt get is, when there is console only release (such as bloodborne) or console got better graphic etc. they like can't accept it, and cry hard (easily can read those on steam community everyday), i mean those people not kids that think they can get everything they want are they ?

I really hope both consoles and PC towers die out. Time for everyone to move to NUC sized gaming PC`s. Like the zbox en970. I often see setups where people have a HUGE pc next to a tiny 23" TN garbage monitor. Something is wrong with this picture. Lets all move to SMALL pc`s, smaller than consoles - next to HUGE, bright, colorful and fast variable refresh screens instead, no? And 10 years later we can have Intel Compute Sticks that sustain 120fps @ 4k on any modern game.

The smoke is strong with this one.